HT102 Combined Set Church History in the Modern Era
John Carroll*
• 1792 Roman church recognized America's autonomy in the signing of the Constitution, and they appoint John as first archbishop in America
Francis Makemie*
• Scots-Irish pastor and church planter • Organizes the first presbytery in 1706 in Philadelphia • Father of American Presbyterianism
Regular Baptists:
• Come early on and are Puritans with a differing ecclesiology
New England Theology
• Trinitarian Calvinists • However, they view sin as something that you do, not what you are o People go to hell not because they are sinners but because they are not moral enough (they sin). • Wrestled with these two questions o What is the relationship of Adam to his prodigy in his first sin (other people)? o What is the nature of the condemnation of Adam's prodigy? • In their request to remain relevant, they sacrificed the doctrine of adamic unity. (Man does not inherit sinfulness) • NET is a wonderful attempt to fend off Unitarians and maintain the popularity of the church and its place in society.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
• Unitarian • Deeply influenced by Joseph Priestley o Once wrote "Had the doctrines of Jesus been preached always as pure as they came from his lips..... the whole world would now have been Christian." • Governor of Virginia during the revolution
Samuel Davis (1723-1761)
• Very important among the Presbyterians • Itnerant Presbyterian evangelists • Succeeds Edwards as president of Princeton
George Calvert
• Wealthy Irish parliamentarian who became a devoted Roman Catholic • Given land by the king
John Locke (1632-1704)
• Wrote Two Treatises of Government • Highly influenced the documents of our states (favors limited monarchy) • He held to Social Contract Theory o The church functions to protect the autonomous spheres: church and state. The church functions to protect property privilege and the state has no power over religious belief. • He is much more known today.
Charles Wesley
• Wrote poetry, was not an itinerant like his brother (John Wesley) • Wrote "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
Failed Dream of Puritanism
(Can't live it out as generations pass...) • Half-way Covenant for grandchildren • Baptized into state privilege, but not church privilege • Stoddardianism • Allowing a unbeliever by profession, who is upright, moral, good guy and gal come to the Supper of the Table
Boston Massacre (1770)
- three British soldiers (drunk) are assaulted with snowballs by Bostonians. They respond by shooting 6 of them and killing them. This led to Boston Tea Party, which led to First Continental Congress, which leads to Lexington and Concord and finally, the Declaration of Independence.
Pilgrims
Came over in 1620 (Basically Anglican who wanted to purify the church)
Puritans
Came over in 1630 (More skilled, more educated)
John Endcott (1600-1664)
He's the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and he spent 16 years as governor.
Did our nation slip from a grand golden era? Did our nation begin in a secularity that justifies the secularism of today?
No. Our nation had a profound Christian heritage, but was not strictly Christian. What was birthed in 1776 and 1787 was a secular experiment, a new order of the age, wherein God has smiled on our beginnings. The nation without question was," quote, "a Christian nation throughout the 19th century."
Age of Divine Sovereignty (1607-1760)
o Colonial Era o Theocentrism o Migration o Calvinism
Salem Witch Trials
Smaller deal than it's blown up to be (19 died and 2 dogs; ouija board used with a group of ladies, but brought back to peace through the reading of the Word)
Quaker
o A Puritan schism (dissatisfied Puritan) o Rejection of the ministerial office o Denial of the Sacraments o Inner light (Spirit/Word separation) • Believed God spoke with equal authority apart from the Scriptures as in them o Pacifism o Female preachers o Meet in silence with no pastor—tarrying meetings o 2 famous Quaker Presidents: Richard Nixon and Mr. Hoover
Roman Catholic (Maryland)
o A tiny, uncertain enclave in a Protestant world
Congregationalist (NE)
o ***Most dominant denomination in American history through the 19th Century*** o Produce Harvard and Yale o New England o Church and State connected o Local church autonomy o Pilgrims and Puritans
Anglican (Southern Colonies & NY)
o Called Anglicanism b/c it's in-between Protestantism and Romanism o Called Episcoplain, their form of government o Hierarchical government o Spiritual view of the Eucharist o Unity of church and state
The issue at hand for the American Revolution
do the British colonists in America have a say in the political process in England, or is England imposing her will on us illegitimately as a limited monarchy?
Moravian
o "A hardy band of brothers from Herrnhut" o A persecuted sect of people, followers of 15th Centruy Jan Hus o Czechs in background
Wesley Post-Conversion
o George Whitfield help John Wesley become a traveling preacher. Because both of them are not accepted in many churches o Labors for the rest of his life intensely. 15 sermons given a week. o 42,000 sermons in his life. Traveled 5,000 miles on horseback. o His passion was to preach the gospel to common people. He was not a scholar although he published works often. He would republish other peoples work while removing the things that he didn't like
Wesley Personal Life
o Had a marriage that led to divorce. He claimed that he married an idiot. o Again, he always needed a motherly figure in his life. He would do things with girls (non-sexual) that would upset his wife.
Establishment of Universities
o Harvard (1636) • And then reopened in 1640 after president stole money and left • Mathers took over and made the school what it became o William and Mary (1693) • Anglican • Thomas Jefferson came from there o Yale (1701) • Founded by Puritans because they thought Harvard was slipping o University of Pennsylvania (1740) • George Whitfield (colonial Anglican preacher) and Ben Franklin (the deist) o Princeton (1746) • Founded by Jonathan Disckenson, a Presbyterian o King's College (1754) • Anglican school o College of Rhode Island (Brown University) (1764) • Baptists o Queen's College (1766) • Dutch Reformed o Dartmouth College (1769) • Missionary school to train Indians for the gospel
Holiness Theology: John Wesley and Sanctification
o He embraces original sin and absolute total depravity o Although he stated that Calvinism fails in ascribing all good to God alone. o He creates an idea of universal, non-saving, proprietary, anticipatory grace. - We are all born hopelessly lost. o He tried to understand liability without responsibility • We're born lost, but in the hearing of the gospel, God performs a universal work of grace that does not save you but it annuls the inherited inability that you acquired from Adam. • If you respond to that gift, that doesn't save, but you respond to it with integrity and moral rectitude, God will give you more grace and save you. • That saving is not enough to keep you, but it's enough to get you saved. o He tried to answer the question: Does the Holy Spirit come into your life incrementally or all at once? o He didn't believe that salvation was secured either. even after your "2nd baptism of the Holy Spirit" you cannot be sure of your salvation. o Wesley makes constancy of faith a requirement of salvation o His gospel is very anthropocentric. o Methodism is rooted in "the imperative mood (do) and the indicative voice (I do, you do, we do) and forgets the passive voice (I am being).
Wesley Conversion
o He gets into trouble at school. He needs a mother image around him, so he hangs out with women a lot and at inappropriate hours. He is accused of improper sexual activity. He is arrested and imprisoned and eventually goes back to England. o This destroys him because he is such a moralistic pietist. His system of righteousness comes crumbling down. o However, he continues to preach and teach the gospel in the hopes that he would find the gospel. o Eventually at a Moravian meetinghouse called Aldersgate Street he is converted in his heart.
Jonathan Edwards': Personal Notes
o He was 6'2" in a world mostly of 5'2" people o He was not a social "gladhander." He was a recluse to a minor degree. o Because he was a recluse, people began to say things about him and accuse him of things that may or may not have been true. They speculate. He called people out for sin in non-conventional ways. As his supporters died off, his congregation began to turn on him. His people vote to fire him eventually.
What was education like?
o Learned to read and write before the age of six (required elementary schools in cities) o Latin school (seven-year program) had to learn because that was the language of instruction o Had to know Greek and Hebrew as well o College • 3 years • Same degree plan for all
Baptist
o Local church economy o Believer's baptism o Memorial view of the Eucharist o Separation of church and state o Settle in Middle Colonies
Anabaptists
o Mennonites • Meno Simmons- most brilliant of them all; wrote their first systematic theology Champians pacifism o Amish • Jakob Ammann • Moral codes o Hutterites • Jakob Hutter • Socialist, communalist o Continental European origins o Believer's baptism o Memorialist Eucharist o Pacifism o Lay movement—blue collar
Age of Rationalism, Science (1880-1960)
o Modern Era o Maturation o Liberalism o "The Enlightenment"
Age of Biblistic Rationalism, (1760-1880)
o National Era o National birth o Evangelicalism (First Great Awakening)
Christian nation?
o No—the nation wasn't born in 1620s—was born in 1776 in which common sense is the norm and "God" has significantly vague meaning to the least common agreeable denominator
Jonathan Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God
o One of Jonathan Edwards' most famous sermons. o "If you have breath in the next moment, it is a gift from God, but God is not obligated to give you the breath the next moment, so you better use it wisely now." o It is an anti-procrastination sermon but the gospel is not presented in it. o He never preached it again because he concluded that wanting to go to heaven because you don't want hell is the wrong reason
Age of Privatism, Self (1960-)
o Post-Modern Era o Uncertainty, anxiety, randomness
Literacy and Educational Resources
o Read two Puritan works as textbooks: • The Golden Chain by William Perkins • Everything starts with God's glory • God's works are twofold: o What he does for the unredeemed and un-elect o Mercies He extends to His children • The Marrow of Sacred Theology by William Ames o Society literate but nearly bookless • Pastor was the exception • Expected to be in his study 14 hours a day
Methodism Origin
o Recognized a body of people in need of the gospel and send their preachers to them. o began with lay preachers - guys that were not ordained but inspired. o Wesley says "If lay preachers can be effective, imagine what trained ministers could do." o So he sends out 12 trained ministers as circuit riders (essentially missionaries)
Presbyterian (Middle Colonies)
o Republican government • Ruling and teaching elders from the churches in your area • A session • Ruling elders and teaching elders • Collectively belong to a larger organization called a presbytery o Locus of authority: Presbytery o Covenantal approach to Scripture o Spiritual Eucharistic presence
Thomas Reid (1710-1796)
o Scottish Common Sense o It's the idea that knowledge derives from an instinctual reasonableness that is universally possessed by all humanity o births two different philosophical schools that you'll be introduced to later on: pragmatism and utilitarianism o Common-sense realism: the idea that every human individual has common understanding, has insight into the truth
Jonathan Edwards' Life Work
o Spent 7 years doing mission work among the MoHawk Indians o Dies of an overdoes of a vaccination on March 22, 1758 o Entered College at age 13, finished at age 16. (average graduation age was 16 or 17 thought), He then studies at Yale for his M.A. It is during his masters' degree studies that he is converted to Christ. o Founder of the American Foreign Missionary Movement o Ends his life as president of Yale (only served there for a few months) o Spent 23 years as a pastor in North Haven, Massachusetts early in his ministry. o Partnered with Whitfield in 1740's and becomes an itinerant preacher. (this is when sinners in the hand of an angry God is written).
Lutheran
o State appointed clergy o Local church autonomy o Corporeal Eucharist o Covenantal baptism • (Some sense of Christ's literal presence) o Three groups: • Settlement through New Amsterdam • Settlement by the Swedes (Delaware Valley) • Settlement by the Germans (Pennsylvania)
John Locke (1632-1704):
o The father of empiricism, • Knowledge derives through sensation and reflection upon sensation o Chief head of how the Enlightenment ideas come to America is this philosophy
Jonathan Edwards' Mission to the MoHawk Indians (1751-1757)
o The head of the Mohawk Indian Mission (John Sergeant) dies and Jonathan Edwards steps as a pastor of a church (22 whites, 300 Mohawks) o During this time he was not writing new sermons, using old ones. Wrote a lot of his books during this time.
Wesley Education
o Trained at Oxford University o Part of a spiritual formation type group - highly legalistic and piety focused group. They were all religionist but none of them were converted to Christianity - "Holy Club" o This "Holy Club" is where the term Methodist comes from. They were methodical in their approach to religious devotion. o He is a teacher, preacher, professor and theologian but he does not know anything of the grace of God
John Winthrop (1578-1649)
• "City on a hill" (they're going to be the perfect city) • We're going to put it on a hill, and England is going to look at this, this city, and England is going to reform its ways • Their "Moses"
Unitarianism
• 1805 - Harvard College, Henry Ware (open Unitarian) takes over, Unitarianism begins to gain ground. • Theology o Believe in one God o Jesus is one mind, one soul, one being, as we are, and equally distinct from the one God. Jesus was sent by the Father to affect a moral or spiritual deliverance of mankind. Jesus is an insightful Jewish peasant.. Christ's death does not procure the forgiveness of men. He is the definition of ethics. o Believe in moral perfection of God
Congregationalism
• 1st denomination to get shredded by the Enlightenment. • Congregationalists split into 3 groups o Old Calvinists who forget cultural change o Consistent Calvinists who were trying to keep up with culture o Unitarian Calvinists who "sold the baby with the bathwater"
1st Great Awakening - (1730s - 1750s)
• 1st inter-colonial event (Spread across the colonies) • Marked the beginning of the rise of evangelicalism (individual faith trumps corporate faith) • Sparks missions (Awakenings by definition spark missions) • Began in the middle colonies among the Dutch reformed o Dutch came in as farmers with creeds but not pastors. o Dutch church in Holland sends them church planters o Theodore Frelinghausen is one of these pastors (See his description below) • As pastors are trained in the Dutch colonies it spreads to the Presbyterians in the middle colonies • Consequences o In New England - rise of first inroads to the Enlightenment
James Varick (1750-1828)
• African American, New York freeman • Member of the John Street Methodist Episcopal Church • Founded the African Methodist Church (1796) • First bishop of AME Zion Church
Absalom Jones (1746-1818)
• African American, born a slave in Delaware, manumitted (freed) in 1784 • First African American licensed to preach in the Methodist Church • First black bishop in the Methodist Church • Co-founded the AME with Allen • First African-American Episcopal priest, St. Thomas, Philadelphia
Richard Allen (1760-1831)
• African American, born as a slave in Delaware; purchased his freedom (1780) • Converted by Methodists, became a revivalist preacher • Founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church (1794)
4 Ages in America
• Age of Divine Sovereignty (1607-1760) • Age of Biblistic Rationalism, (1760-1880) • Age of Rationalism, Science (1880-1960) • Age of Privatism, Self (1960-)
Joseph Priestley (1733-1804)
• Argued that the gospel has been corrupted through time • He wrote in his book, "The simple message of Jesus was corrupted by the Apostles, and a Da Vinci code myth has entered the civil body politic."
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
• Attacked the bible • Wrote Age of Reason
Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf
• Befriended these people • Jesus painting: "This is what I have done for you. What have you done for Me?" • Changed his life, took this group in, prayer meeting, called by God, and sent out missionaries like crazy
Johan Dober (1706-1766)
• Called to Carribbean where the slaves were, St. Thomas Island • Sold himself into slavery so he'd be chained to the people he wanted to communicate with
National Period (The Revolution to about 1880)
• Churches are forced to adjust to democracy • Issues of divine sovereignty fade because 'the people' are sovereign • People are trying figure out how to keep Christianity relevant o Unitarians - radically modify the faith to keep it popular, this leads to transcendentalism o Others soften depravity in order to uphold democracy o Evangelicals - do not change o New England Theology • Church is in a free fall; anyone with a good preaching style is able to amass followers. (Joseph Smith) • There is a rise in "fairness doctrine." What is fair? Is it fair for God to judge mankind if he has original sin, etc..." • Edwards' death signifies the start of this change in Christian perspective
Separate Baptists:
• Come out of congregationalism during the Second Great Awakening
John Wesley (1703-1791)
• Contemporary of John Edwards and George Whitfield • He was a great preacher, he despised the American Revolution • He was not looking to start a movement, he was a committed Anglican cleric
Cecil Calvert ("Lord Baltimore")
• Continues what his father started—broad-based tolerant society
Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
• Deist - God is single, revelation is natural. Jesus was the greatest of people. Sin is what you do; its not who you are by nature, so there's no atonement. • President of Yale College
Origins of Presbyterian Church
• English Puritans & Scots-Irish formed First Presbytery • Presbyterians eventually split over practices during the awakening. o There was a shortage of qualified ministers- What do we do? o How do you handle people accusing pastors of being false teachers? • They eventually split into the "New Side" and "Old Side" o New Side - Regardless of how erratic this spiritual awakening gets, it is valid and should be promoted o Old Side - There is too much disorganization and badness in this awakening it is not of God.
Three Groups of Presbyterians
• English Puritans (Presbyterial Puritans) Princeton • Continental reform groups (Palatinates; Huguenots) Have their origin within a continent itself • Scot-Irish Largest group Transplanted Scotsmen put in Northern Ireland, became discouraged, and then moved into the colonies after ending up with extremely high terriffs
Matthew Tindal (1657-1733)
• Enlightenment figures who deeply influenced Thomas Jefferson
George Whitefield (1714 - 1770)
• Field Preacher who came to the U.S. seven times for a total of 5 ½ years. Very gifted speaker with a booming, dynamic preaching style. • He was inter-denominationalist • He was not a very good husband to his wife (he was gone a lot). When he was home he was obsessive-compulsive and critical. • He founded the College of New Jersey and the College of Philadelphia with Ben Franklin. • God also used him in Ireland, Scotland, England and British North America
Mayhew Family
• Five generations of fathers and sons laboring on the same island among the same Indians through the entire colonial period
George Fox
• Roger Williams writes against him • George Fox continues to respond • (Didn't say much about him, but had a slide for him)
Devereaux Jarrett (1733-1801)
• Founder of Methodism • Converted by the Presbyterians but moves to Virginia (which is Anglican) and becomes an Anglican in order to reach the people. • At this time Wesley began to send circuit riders into British America who are Anglican. They partner with Jarrett but end up stealing his converts and forming Methodism. • Jarrett was upset with Wesley. He wanted to reform the Anglican Church, not to start a splinter church.
Mother Ann Lee
• Founder of the Quaker movement • Believed she was the bride of Christ
Background on why Pilgrims and Puritans left:
• Henry VIII wants to divorce his wife, Roman Catholics say no, he is kicked out of the church and starts his own with the Anglican Church • Edward VI takes power, boy king, Reformers ruling with Thomas Cranmer • Queen Mary I ("Bloody Mary) kills off Protestants • Queen Elizabeth solidifies and builds Anglican Church (Takes the middle ground between Protestants and Roman Catholics) • Pilgrims say it's not Reformed enough; Bible only and end up in the new world • Puritans follow in 1630; more educated and keep the movement alive
Algeron Sidney (1623-1683)
• Highly influenced the documents of our states • Lesser Known today
Robert Strawbridge (Died 1781)
• Methodist lay-preacher From Maryland • Would read John Wesley's Sermons
Philip Embury (1729-1775)
• Methodist lay-preacher from New York • Would read John Wesley's Sermons
Edward Hicks
• Most famous Quaker in American history • Pacifist; lion lying with lamb paintings of his vision in Isaiah 11 called The Peacable Kingdom
James Blair
• Most influential Anglican of the colonial period • Founds a missionary society 1στ bishop of America
Richard Boardman (1738-1782)
• One of Wesley's trained Methodist riders. (1 of 12)
John Cotton (1585-1652)
• One of the first early preachers in Puritanism • Developed Puritan typology • So he read in the Old Testament. And what he saw was not just Israel, but he saw the Puritans; he saw the contemporary church in the pages of the Old Testament • Ok to take NA land b/c they're pagans • Their "Aaron"
Roger Sherman
• Only person to sit on every committee from the beginning of the war to the ratification of the Constitution. He sits beside Franklin, Jefferson, John Adama, etc.. • Puritan Calvinist from Connecticut • His Solution: let us have a bicameral legislature made up of equal number of representatives in Senate, by each state and a house of 235 people that represent population based upon each decade's census population
Colonial Era Major Topics
• Origins of Denominations • The 1st Great Awakening • The American Revolution
William Ellery Channing (1780-1842)
• Pastor in Boston • Raised under Henry Ware • Delivered "Unitarian Christianity" speech at Harvard College and is the first to spell out its creed.
Charles Chauncy (1705-1787)
• Pastor of Federal Street Church (Boston) • Opposed Edwards philosophy of salvation in some ways. o Argued that regeneration occurs in the mind, not in the affections. o Edwards argued that the two are interrelated. Edwards believed that it is through your intellect that your affections are stirred for God. Decisions are made in the affections. Sermons should be geared towards the affections, not just intellectual lectures. • Intellect/understanding moves your affections. Afections move your will (decision making). Will instructs your understanding/intellect. • Thought the awakening was not of God, its just confusion; its detrimental to civil society
5 Major Awakenings in American History
• Pastoral Evangelists (1726-1780) - 1st great awakening • Individual Evangelists (1787-1855) -2nd great awakening (Finney during backhalf) • Lay Evangelists (1855-1865) - Layman's prayer revival • Team Evangelists (1880-1950) - Era of Great Evangelists • Association Evangelists (1950-Present) - Billy Graham
Theodore Frelinghausen (1691-1747)
• Preacher/Pastor sent to America into the Dutch colony • He is a Piest - He believed that when God redeems a soul, he doesn't just fill it with data. He fills the affections with love. • Founded Queen's College which becomes Rutgers • Founded New Brunswick Theological Seminary (one of the first big seminaries to train Dutch pastors)
William Tennent (1673 - 1746)
• Presbyterian Pastor during the inception of the 1st Great Awakening • He was a fairly bad preacher and couldn't afford high-end education for his sons to be trained for ministry so he builds a "Log College" on his property in order to help them prepare. • Log Colleges - This sets a precedence for Presbyterian pastors. Whenever they plant a church they build a "Log College" and are to train men for the ministry. When another church is planted this "intern" would become the pastor and build a new log college and train someone else and so on. • This helped Presbyterianism spread (Log College idea helped start 67 American colleges across the U.S.
Jared Sparks (1789-1866)
• President of Harvard • Advocate of Unitarian theology
John Elliot
• Puritan Pastor, Indian Missionary • Developed a deep love for the Indians. He learned their language. He taught them to read and write. • He translated the Old and New Testament into Algonquian • 3,000 Indian converts
Roger Williams:*
• Puritan and supposed Father of Baptists in America • Tree that ate his dead body • Hanna's theory is he's not the founder but rather the father of a colony that permitted Baptists to exercise their religious liberty • Believes the church became corrupt at the time of Constantine • Believes all governments are evil • Looking for prophets to come from Jerusalem to establish truly reformed churches
Nature of Education in British America
• Puritans were dominant—Harvard, Yale, Princeton o Leaders educationally o "Whether one thinks of Puritanism as bane or blessing, this is sure: no religious experiment in the New World has had a more enduring impact upon our nation's education, literature, sense of mission, governance, ethical responsibility, or religious position." o First generation was educated in Engalnd, usually Cambridge o Second generation trained at Harvard • Focus on linguistic o Third generation came from Harvard (1636) o Forth generation at Harvard and Yale (1701) o Fifth generation at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton (1746)
Shubal Stearns (1706-1771)
• Separate Baptist Revivalist • Founder of the Sandy Creek Association (17590 • Founder of Baptists in the South @ Sandy Creek, North Carolina • Baptists grow from 16 people to 30,000 during his lifetime • He built a his cabin at a major crossroads. He drew church members from those fleeing south to avoid the French and Indian War.
Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764)
• Son of William Tennent (Helped plant early log college) • Highly influenced by Frelinghausen
Baptists
• Southern Baptists are formed at Sandy Creek, North Carolina (1758) • There are two sources of Baptists o Regular Baptist People - Those who migrated to North America during the great migration and the puritans o Those who left congregationalism move towards believer's baptism (Separate Baptists). They separated out of congregationalism. • Baptists are largely blue collar people (Therefore the early records were not well kept)
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
• Stood at the center of the 1st Great Awakening • America's greatest thinker and an excellent preacher. He did not check his mind at the door when he came to church. He engaged God and worshipped intellectually.
Samuel Hopkins (1721-1803)
• Studied under Jonathan Edwards • New England Theologian • We are sinners because of the choice we make
August Spangenburg (1704-1792)
• Talked to Wesley when he arrived in South Carolina and asked "Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior?" and "Is He your savior?"
Peter Bohler
• Talked with Wesley after he asked what to do about not knowing the gospel • Peter's advice to him was "Preach Christ until you meet him"
Methodism
• The last to arrive; the first to be include over a million people • Episcopal rule • Local Church autonomy by elder rule • Supervised by circuit riders • The Methodist churches do not have their own pastors (cause they didn't want to start a church), they only have elders. The circuit preachers would do the teaching. • Average church size is about 50 people. o Each of these churches were divided into classes of 10 people, where they would study the bible together with a teacher/leader. These classes were divided into 3 to 4 people. These small groups would pray together. • Every Methodist "church" would gather their classes would meet for their quarterly circuit rider gathering with the other Methodist churches in the area.
Francis Asbury (1745-1816)
• The only circuit rider that did not return due to bad conditions in the field. • He becomes the organizer of American Methodism • He will direct it for 32 years. He would visit every Methodist church twice a year.
New Lights vs. Old Lights Controversy
• Those who favor the Awakening are New Lights (Edwards) • Those who are opposed to it are Old Lights (Chauncy)